Rowan Hooper
@rowhoop.bsky.social
Journalist and podcast host @newscientist.com. Former Tokyoite. Books: SUPERHUMAN (2018), HOW TO SPEND A TRILLION DOLLARS (2021), TOGETHERNESS (2026). すごい!
Did dinosaurs evolve flight more than once? Maybe! Not only birds, but microraptors too… I unpack it for @newscientist.com with @rowhoop.bsky.social & @pennysarchet.bsky.social #fossilfriday m.youtube.com/watch?v=aZsN...
This New Fossil Dinosaur Looks Just Like A Bird - But Isn’t
YouTube video by The World, The Universe And Us
m.youtube.com
Exceptional fossil shows birds weren’t the only dinosaurs to evolve flight. Me and @pennysarchet.bsky.social have a fantastic discussion with the brilliant @stevebrusatte.bsky.social www.youtube.com/watch?v=aZsN...
This New Fossil Dinosaur Looks Just Like A Bird - But Isn’t
YouTube video by The World, The Universe And Us
youtube.com
The BBC's new director general's brain is smaller on the inside.
IGN@ign.com · 4d agoThe BBC's new director general has described a 50-minute AI-generated episode of Doctor Who as "pretty good," and suggested that the technology now enabled the creation of content "at the standard of a Hollywood studio." https://bit.ly/4rD8rmh
Endless rain in Tokyo. Food security issue. www.theguardian.com/world/2026/s...
Tokyo succumbs to ‘rain fatigue’ after a record 35 consecutive days of showers
The record rainfall has been blamed on a combination of climate change and El Niño, which has created a prolonged high pressure front in the Pacific
theguardian.com
Look at that temperature line. Our piece on the El Niño catastrophe www.youtube.com/watch?v=KxNH...
This El Niño Is About To Cause a Global Catastrophe
YouTube video by The World, The Universe And Us
youtube.com
ECIU@eciu.net · 7d ago🤯 Temp rise at heart of El Niño in Pacific Ocean has now reached 3.05°C 📍 higher than 3.02°C set in late Nov 2015 (which was higher than in the 150 years of modern records) 📍 most recent forecasts predict a peak of 4.0°C in Novand Dec
oh that bit (the son of a man who failed his 11 plus becoming prime minister) choked me up
“Dr. Mestre said that he analyzed the same data a year ago, which helped them identify the RNA genes associated with the jumbotrons. They shared this unpublished information with Claude” 👀
Carl Zimmer@carlzimmer.com · 6d agoFour days ago, a scientist was surprised by the news that Anthropic discovered new virus genes for making DNA. He says he’s been studying them for years—and feeding his data to Anthropic’s AI as part of his own research. Coincidence? Here’s my story. nyti.ms/3VSWayc
I love it when my reading interests collide, as Alan Moore & Swamp Thing turn up rather unexpectedly in the final chapter of @rowhoop.bsky.social’s important look at the symbiotic interconnected nature of life in Togetherness!
Just finished the audiobook of Togetherness by @rowhoop.bsky.social and I can tell it's going to be one of those books that sticks with me. If you have care about ecology, evolution, climate change, fungi, lichen, plants, the gut biome, mutual aid, or just what it means to be a human, read it!
Number 4 on the Climate News Weekend Watchlist is from @newscientist.com with @rowhoop.bsky.social discussing the extreme weather conditions being forecast globally during the extremely powerful El Niño of 2026/27. Worth watching:
This El Niño Is About To Cause a Global Catastrophe
YouTube video by The World, The Universe And Us
youtu.be
Essential El Niño knowledge: me and @pennysarchet.bsky.social joined by @tinymaddie.bsky.social and @alecluhn.com youtu.be/KxNHlkNuqG0
This El Niño Is Shaping Up To Be A Global Catastrophe – We Need To Act Now
YouTube video by The World, The Universe And Us
youtu.be
Wow a Netflix adaptation is in the works of LONESOME DOVE
An image for our times (petrol station in Argentina hit by massive floods)
The Final Report@firehorse249791.bsky.social · last wk.23.09.2026 '🇦🇷 Argentina | Misiones Circulating footage shows water flooding one of the gas stations in Misiones Province, coinciding with rising water levels in parts of the region.' Arab_storms [x]
I finished listening to the audiobook edition of Togetherness. Symbiosis and the Hidden Story of Life's Greatest Collaborations by @rowhoop.bsky.social It is a much-needed book. And a must-read. Well worth your time. www.audible.co.uk/pd/B0G7KS8VHJ #Science #Ecology #Books #Audiobooks
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Delightful study on the most-used Beatles song titles in academic papers. (I guessed wrong) @samiraahmeduk.bsky.social you'll like this. www.newscientist.com/article/2588...
What is the most-used Beatles song in academic paper titles? | New Scientist
Feedback enjoys a new piece of research delving into papers whose titles mention Beatles songs – but wonders if there is an ulterior motive at work for those who pulled it together
newscientist.com
1. Solar installation is unstoppable! 2. GLP-1 3. We can get rid of synthetic fertiliser 4. Entirely new class of drugs 5. The best diet 6. Hopeful about AI (!) 7. Resilience of nature 8. Extraterrestrial life www.youtube.com/watch?v=o5lk... @mscaitlinmoran.bsky.social
How Science Can Give Us Hope: Caitlin Moran with New Scientist
YouTube video by The World, The Universe And Us
youtube.com
How to be hopeful - with science! @mscaitlinmoran.bsky.social joins the New Scientist podcast! With me, @pennysarchet.bsky.social, @tinymaddie.bsky.social, @mjflepage.bsky.social and @catdl.bsky.social open.spotify.com/episode/1FOH...
How to Be Hopeful: Caitlin Moran and New Scientist Look to the Future
The World, the Universe and Us · Episode
open.spotify.com
Grim sign of future food shortages: the heat and drought this year wiped out 3.1m tonnes of potatoes. www.ft.com/content/8eda...
Heatwave triggers potato shortage in Europe
Extreme weather wiped out about 3.1mn tonnes of spuds, worth up to €620mn
ft.com
Saw Lucy Kirkwood’s brilliant play The Children at the @lyrichammersmith.bsky.social. Meera Syal, Declan Conlon and Kerry Fox as retired nuclear engineers in the aftermath of a Fukushima-style disaster.
Also: he supports Man U
Torsten Bell@torstenbell.bsky.social · 2w agoSo much of the right these days have a massive patriotism problem. This guy: - is a tax exile (left long before this govt) - hates his own country while complaining he doesn’t get big enough subsidies from it - laments the manufacturing hit from a Brexit he supported www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Pod of pilot whales in the Thames - hope they get out soon or this could go very bad www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Whales spotted in Thames in Tilbury in rare sighting
People are urged not to crowd the whales or make a lot of noise.
bbc.co.uk
THIS is what you need to worry about with AI - me and @pennysarchet.bsky.social discuss with @sparkes.bsky.social, @jjaron.bsky.social and @timothyrevell.bsky.social youtu.be/rTm_20fWidk
This Is What You Actually Need To Worry About With AI
YouTube video by The World, The Universe And Us
youtu.be
It brings a lump to my throat that Johnny Marr is giving some of his guitar money to Guide Dogs for the Blind and the National Autistic Society press.christies.com/results-marr...
Johnny Marr's Globally Anticipated Auction at Christie's Welcomed Registrants from 34 Countries The Collection totalled over £3.6 million, more than triple the estimate - Christie's
London – A dream opportunity that has captured the hearts and imaginations of fans, collectors and music aficionados around the globe, the gavel has gone down on the final lot in Christie’s auction Ma...
press.christies.com
Oh god the Anthropic “it could kill us all” guy is a climate denier
Ketan Joshi@ketanjoshi.co · 2w agoAs I warned you: the superstar media darling AI quitter is explicitly agreeing with Trump and claiming climate threats are "overplayed". Effective altruism / rationalism is a cult of broken priorities that denies the threat of fossil fuels. This is why Anthropic loves burning gas for power.
Good grief. The This Charming Man Rickenbacker just went for £360k. Also, fittingly, What difference does it make?
I found this new work incredible. To superpower the uterus ahead of labour, the body delivers mitochondria in microtubules to muscle cells. With @pennysarchet.bsky.social youtu.be/V_4rNRMI4IA
We Finally Know What Triggers Childbirth
YouTube video by The World, The Universe And Us
youtu.be
Bunnymen on Front Row: Macca’s speaking voice is so ragged but his singing voice still beautiful
The US Space Force has deployed its first and THE first weapon in space www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
US confirms for first time it has deployed space weapons
The US Air Force Secretary says the weapons are necessary to defend the country against enemy action.
bbc.co.uk
